The bibbed team of reporters lead by two tries to one and Martin Johnson, in part responsible for the non-bibs' deficit, is miffed. "Next try wins," he declares with a grimace, before smashing his way through our defensive line and passing to a team-mate for the winning try.

A game of touch rugby between two sets of journalists on a makeshift pitch at the Bank of England Sports Centre bears scant resemblance to the 2003 World Cup final at the Telstra Stadium but Johnson's desire to win is as strong as ever. Defeat is not an option and, with such an attitude, it is unsurprising that it rarely happened during his 13-year international career.

If only this could be said of the current England squad, which begins its defence of the Webb Ellis trophy on September 8 with 15 defeats in its last 16 away Tests and 24 losses in 40 matches since that unforgettable evening in Sydney.

In the build-up to the 2003 tournament England, captained by Johnson and coached by Sir Clive Woodward, beat Australia and New Zealand in their back yards, then travelled Down Under as favourites and lived up to the billing. A raft of retirements, injuries and managerial changes since have seen them plummet to No7 in the IRB world rankings and, under first Andy Robinson and now Brian Ashton, losing has become something of a habit.

"The ultimate skill in rugby is being able to win," Johnson says. "A guy might be faster than me or have a better left-handed spin pass but right now is he ready and thinking what he needs to do to win the game? If he's showing off his skill but it's not the right time or place then it's not a skill is it? The skill is to know how to win rugby matches.

"The skill is to drum yourself up when you're 10-0 down against Samoa [as England were in 2003] and say, 'Right, this ends now, we get back in the game'. That's one of the skills of rugby which that team had, we knew how to win and believed in ourselves. We knew we could be beaten by a lot of teams we played in that tournament but we also knew that, if we went out there and did what we were good at, we could win the World Cup."

Given what has followed, Johnson could be forgiven for thinking England's 20-17 extra-time win over the Wallabies was a dream. As he strode into the familiar Bank of England dressing rooms yesterday - the national team trained here when he was first called into the squad in 1993 - changed into his kit and led us out to train, it was impossible not to feel the aura Johnson, now 37, still exudes.

Having experimented with youth since taking over as coach last year, Ashton has reverted to experience in the 30-man party for France. Just under half of those who will arrive at England's training base in Versailles on Monday week travelled to the last World Cup and, with an average age of almost 30, they are thought to be the oldest squad in World Cup history.

Woodward's men were branded "Dad's Army" by the Australian press, and their New Zealand counterparts have dubbed the current crop "Last of the Summer Wine", but Johnson insists that they have the ability to defend the title.

"You've got to pick the best team for now and the World Cup," he said. "Whenever you pick a squad people always ask 'what does this mean for the future?' With this World Cup it doesn't matter about the 2008 Six Nations, it's about now. We won the World Cup with a team that was a bit older. The southern hemisphere love to have a little bit of a pop.

"If you look at the teams who have won it - the Australians in 1991 and 1999, and South Africa in 1995 - they all had a pretty settled, experienced sides and an experienced core is vital. Anyway, who cares if you play and you win?" Such a mentality is essential if England are prosper across the Channel.

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